Dear Hossein,
Thank you for your most recent communication. The remaining mental fog from my stroke is subsiding a bit more each day and I hope to be fully recovered from it very soon. I appreciate your concern and your optimism about my continued progress.
I think the book we are exploring could draw from four bodies of your work, including excerpts from 1) your books and other writings, 2) our communications over the years, 3) interviews we have done, and 3) new material on particular topics that you have not presented before in any publication. I view this as a summation of your work: quotations that are motivational and that also provide specific guidance on issues that arise within the treatment and recovery process for both individuals and families. While I see those seeking recovery from addiction as the primary audience, quotations could also be aimed at addiction professionals and addiction policymakers.
I have given some thought to how I could be of most help in this process. Perhaps a place for me to start would be to review the interviews we have done and for me to select quotes and list them under particular topic headings from these interviews that could be potentially included in the book. Let me know if you think this would be a good starting place for my assistance. I could focus on those I think would be of most interest to an international audience. If this suggestion meets with your agreement, I will get started on this in the coming weeks.
My congratulations on this year’s Golrizan ceremony. It is remarkable that Congress 60 is supported by the philanthropy of its own members. This allows Congress 60 to escape domination by outside institutions to whom they would otherwise be financially dependent. It is also a powerful statement of what a strong recovery community is capable of doing on its own without outside assistance. I am also pleased to see the requirements you have placed on who can contribute through Golrizan. That is essential in assuring everyone that these contributions are acts of gratitude and service and not a product of financial exploitation.
Please extend my warmest greetings to your family and to all members of Congress 60. On this week of our Thanksgiving celebration in the U.S., I thank you and my brothers and sisters in recovery in Iran for our continued friendship.
Friends and Brothers Forever,